Product Review: MamaRoo Full Featured Baby Bouncer

We first learned of the MamaRoo back in January when we blogged about 5 Baby Tech Items That Have Me Wanting A Kid. 4moms, the company that makes the MamaRoo, was kind enough to send us a demo unit to review. See what baby Alex thought of the product after the jump.

The MamaRoo baby bouncer from 4moms is a full featured baby bouncer that "moves like you do" (for newborns all the way up to six months). Ok so I don't actually move like a kangaroo, but you get the idea. The MamaRoo has an LCD screen and menu system that allows you to select one of five different movements: Car ride, Kangaroo, Tree Swing, Rock-a-Bye and Ocean Wave. Using motors and belts, the seat moves on two axis's: vertical, and horizontal (no front and back, though there is a tilt/recline feature) to imitate life-like motions. There is also a speed control, built-in sounds, and an input for an MP3 player/iPod.

Unboxing: The unit is well built and assembled in about 6 minutes. After attaching the frame to the motor mechanism, the seat zips into place (and is machine washable). Based on the solid construction, I felt comfortable trusting the unit and its' motors with our borrowed baby. An electrical outlet is required to power the thing so unfortunately, it's not something to use at the park. Disassembly was a bit more tricky but chances are, you won't be taking this thing apart very often.

Performance, According to Baby Alex: Baby Alex and I had hung out a couple times before we brought over the MamaRoo, but this was the first time his parents had left him alone with babysitters (My wife and I). He's a fairly amiable little guy but once he realized his parents were gone, he wasn't thrilled. After doing some prescribed soothing and bouncing of our own, we tucked him into the MamaRoo (With his parents permission, of course!) and turned it on the Car Ride setting. Almost instantly, he fell asleep! He was not a fan of the Rock-A-Bye setting but did enjoy the Ocean Wave. Since he's only a couple months old, we kept it on the two lowest speeds, but did test it out on the higher speeds without him in there. Don't worry, even on the highest speed, he would have been safe thanks to the three-point safety belt. Those looking for high quality speakers, stick with your stereo system but for some light tunes to lull your little one to sleep, the built in speakers will do just fine.

Overall: While there are plenty of other baby rockers out there, none I've seen have two axis's of motion that imitate real life movements. The movement and comfort of the MamaRoo seemed convincing enough for baby Alex to fall asleep. Though I was initially concerned that the motor noise would be distracting for him (It's not that loud but definitely audible), he didn't seem to mind at all. Priced at $199.95, it's not cheap but not many tech infused baby items are. The price is the only thing holding me back from giving it a Strong Recommendation. If you're looking for something to give yourself a break from the little one, this might do the trick. Though I'm not a dad myself, I can only imagine what the parent of a newborn would pay for a little peace and quiet every now and then.

*Our Ratings:Strong RecommendRecommendWeak RecommendDon't Recommend

(Images by Trent Johnson)

Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did loan us the product for testing and review purposes.